About Me

Dear Dan Zhang,
I want to thank you for your wonderful blog. I have learned a lot from it. I am a Mother who has a 15 year-old daughter with Non-Verbal Learning Disorder / Autism. She was born with a fever at birth and administered antibiotics. She was also treated for jaundice. Since a baby, she has had sensory problems and learning disabilities. I have been searching for the real cause of all these issues for the past 15 years. I also have a sister who has similar disabilities and started getting seizures in her thirties as well. So I don’t really know what is happening or happened to my daughter.

This past January, after doing some research, I started to give low doses of L-Arganine to my daughter. Within a half an hour her behavior improved dramatically as well as her comprehension and memory. This seems to last for about 8 hours and then she reverts to her old self. I have since taken her to a neurologist in Washington state. He has said to continue her on the supplements, but has offered no clue as to what is actually going on. She recently got an MRI that has stated that her brain looks normal except for the following;

The ventricles, sulci and cisterns are normal. There is a focus of low T1, bright T2/FLAIR signal in the left centrum semiovale region (4/24) with no evidence for
restricted diffusion. A small focus of bright T2 and low FLAIR signal is seen in the left periatrial region on 24/20) consistent with dilated perivascular space.
There is no evidence of abnormal T2 signal in the cortex to suggest focal cortical dysplasia; there is no evidence
of abnormal gray matter abnormality. The hippocampi demonstrate normal architecture without abnormal high
signal.
There is no diffusion restriction abnormality to indicate acute infarct. Myelination pattern is normal for age. The
corpus callosum is normal. There is no Chiari malformation. The posterior pituitary bright spot is normal. There is
no abnormal extra-axial fluid collection. The hippocampi demonstrate normal architecture without high signal.
Minimal mucosal thickening in the ethmoid air cells.
The paranasal sinuses, mastoids, and orbits are normal. There is no obvious calvarial abnormality.
Impression:
1. No acute intracranial abnormality.
2. Nonspecific single focus of bright T2/FLAIR signal in left centrum semiovale region, most likely representing
chronic changes/gliosis related to an old vascular or traumatic insult, less likely early vasculitis or a demyelinating
lesion.

She also had testing on her Amino Acids this summer. Most came out normal except that her Serine was a little low and her Sarcosine and Hydroxyproline were a little high.

Do you have a possible explanation for what is going on here? Was my daughter injured before birth or right after birth from a fever or other mishap in the hospital? Could she have a genetic problem?

Thank you in advance for any help that you may offer. I wish you good luck in your studies.
Sincerely,
Charlene

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